Virgin Islands - Bud's Big Blue

1883-99 Virgin Islands in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The British Virgin Islands in the West Indies, southeast of Puerto Rico, was one of the presidencies of the Leeward Islands Colony during the classical era.

The Leeward Islands issued stamps from 1890-1956 that could be used on any of the islands group. But each presidency (Here, the Virgin Islands) also issued their own stamps valid within their territory.

The Virgin Islands issued stamps from 1866-1952 during the classical period covered by this blog.

The other part of the overall Virgin Islands grouping is the U.S. Virgin Islands, formally the Danish West Indies, that was purchased from Denmark by the U.S. in 1917.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 Catalogue has, for Virgin Islands 1866-1952, 113 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 43 are CV <$1-$1+, or 38%. Many (27) of the less expensive stamps were issued after 1938, and the 1866-1889 issues (20 stamps) are expensive. The WW collector may have to  invest more for a representative collection of this popular country.

Big Blue '69, on two pages, has 46 spaces for the 1889-1938 issues of the Virgin Islands. Coverage (subtracting for post 1940 issues in the 1840-1940 Scott catalogue) is 54%.

Coverage is acceptable, as all the major issues (including war tax) are represented, except for the expensive early issues.

There is only one expensive stamp ($10+) required for a space.

As usual, there are some choices (Wmk 3 vs Wmk 4) for spaces in BB.

For more on the history, the checklist, as well as the stamps themselves, click on the link below.

Virgin Islands Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Supplements

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